A CAUTION TO STIR UP To watch against SIN.
The first Eight Lines one did commend to me,
The rest I thought good to commend to thee:
Reader, in reading be thou rul'd by me,
With Rhimes
nor Lines, but Truths, affected be.
I.
SIN will at first, just like a Beggar, crave
One Penny or one Half-peny to have;
And if you grant its first suit, 'twill aspire,
From Pence to Pounds, and so will still mount higher,
To the whole Soul: but if it makes its m
[...],
Then say, here is not for you, get you gone.
For if you give it entrance at the Door,
It will come in, and may go out no more.
II.
SIN, rather than 'twill out of action be,
Will pray to stay, though but a while with thee;
One Night, one Hour, one Moment, will it cry,
Imbrace me in thy Bosome else I dy:
Time to Repent (saith it) I will allow,
And help, if to Repent thou know'st not how.
But if you give it entrance at the Door,
It will come in, and may go out no more.
III.
If Begging doth not do,
SIN promise will
Rewards to those that shall its Lusts fulfill:
Penny in hand, ye Pounds 'twill offer thee,
If at its
beck and
motion thou wilt be.
'Twill seem Heav'n to out-bid, and all to gain
Thy Love, and win thee it to entertain.
But give it not admittance at thy Door,
Lest it comes in, and so goes out no more.
IV.
If Begging and promising will not do,
'Twill by its wiles attempt to flatter you.
I'm harmless, mean no ill, be not so shy,
Will ev'ry Soul-destroying motion cry.
'Twill hide its sting, 'twill change its Native hue,
Vile 'twill not, but a Beauty seem to you.
But if you give it entrance at the Door,
Its sting will in, and may come out no more.
V.
Rather than fail,
SIN will it self divide,
Bid thee do this, and lay the rest aside.
Take
little ones ('twill say) throw
great ones by,
(As if for little Sins Men should not dy.)
Yea
SIN with
SIN a quarrel will maintain,
On purpose that
THOU by it might'st be slain.
Beware the cheat then, keep it out of Door,
It would
come in, and would go out no more.
VI.
SIN, if you will believe it, will accuse,
What is not hurtful and itself excuse:
'Twill make a Vice of Vertue, and 'twill say
Good is destructive, doth Men's Souls betray.
'Twill make a Law, where God has made man free,
And break those Laws by which Men bounded be.
Look to thy self then, keep it out of Door,
Thee 'twould intangle, and inlarge thy score.
VII.
SIN is that beastly thing that will defile
Soul, Body, Name, and Fame in little while;
'Twill make him, who some time Gods Image was,
Look like the Devil, love, and plead his Cause;
Like to the Plague, Poyson, or Leprosie
Defile 'twill, and infect contagiously.
Wherefore beware, against it shut the Door;
If not, it will defile thee more and more.
VIII.
SIN once possessed of the heart, will play
The Tyrant, force its Vassal to obey:
'Twill make thee thine own happiness oppose,
And offer open Violence to those
That love thee best; yea make thee to defy
The Law and Counsel of the Deity.
Beware then, keep this Tyrant out of Door,
Lest thou be his, and so thy own no more.
IX.
SIN, harden can the heart against its God,
Make it abuse his Grace, despise his Rod,
'Twill make one run upon the very pikes,
Iudgments foreseen bring such to no dislikes
Of sinful hazards; no, they venture shall
For one base Lust, their Soul, and Heav'n and all.
Take heed then, hold it, crush it at the Door,
It comes to rob thee and to make thee Poor.
X.
SIN is a Prison, hath its bolts and chains,
Brings into Bondage who it entertains;
Hangs shackles on them, bends them to its will,
Holds them, as
Samson grinded at the Mill.
'Twill blind them, make them deaf; yea, 'twill them Gagg,
And ride them as the Devil rides his Hagg.
Wherefore look to it, keep it out of Door,
If once its slave, thou may'st be free no more.
XI.
Though
SIN at first its rage dissemble may,
'Twill soon upon thee as a
Lyon Prey;
'Twill roar, 'twill rend, 'twill tear, 'twill kill out-right,
Its living Death will gnaw thee day and night:
Thy pleasures now to
paws and
teeth it turns,
In thee its tickling Lusts, like Brimstone, burns.
Wherefore beware, and keep it out of Door,
Lest it should on thee as a Lyon Roar.
XII.
SIN will accuse, will stare thee in the face,
Will for its Witnesses quote time and place
Where thou committedst it; and so appeal
To conscience, who thy
[...]s will not conceal;
But on thee as a Judge such sentence pass,
As will to thy Sweet bits, prove bitter Sauce.
Wherefore beware, against it shut thy Door,
Repent what's past, believe and Sin no more.
XIII.
SIN is the worm of Hell, the lasting Fire,
Hell would soon lose its heat, could
SIN expire;
Better sinless, in Hell, than to be where
Heav'n is, and to be found a Sinner there.
One Sinless, with infernals might do well,
But
SIN would make a very Heav'n a Hell.
Look to thy self then, to keep it out of Door,
Lest it gets in, and never leaves thee more.
XIV.
No Match has
SIN save God in all the World,
Men, Angels it has from their stations hurl'd:
Holds them in Chains, as Captives, in despite
Of all that here below is called Might.
Release, help, freedom from it none can give,
But he by whom we also breath and live.
Watch therefore, keep this Gyant out of Door
Lest if once in, thou get him out no more.
XV.
Fools make a mock at
SIN, will not believe,
It carries such a Dagger in its sleeve;
How can it be (say they) that such a thing,
So full of sweet, should ever wear a sting:
They know not that it is the very
SPELL
Of
SIN, to make Men laugh themselves to Hell.
Look to thy self then, deal with
SIN no more,
Lest he that saves, against thee shuts the Door.
XVI.
Now let the God that is above,
That hath for Sinners so much love;
These Lines so help thee to improve,
That towards him thy heart may move.
Keep thee from Enemies external,
Help thee to fight with those internal:
Deliver thee from them infernal,
And bring thee safe to life eternal.
AMEN.
London, Printed for N. Ponder at the Peacock in the [...].